Charted: Which Animals Have the Shortest Lifespans?

Niccolo Conte
2025-03-22 14:32:00
www.visualcapitalist.com

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Charted: Which Animals Have the Shortest Lifespans?

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Nature is full of extremes—while some creatures can survive for thousands of years in the wild, others complete their life cycles in just days.

However, even the shortest-lived animals play vital roles in their ecosystems, contributing to food chains and biodiversity.

This infographic shows the animals with the shortest lifespans in the wild, showcasing species that live life in fast-forward mode. The data comes from the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

Nature’s Shortest Life Cycles

Many of the world’s shortest-lived animals are insects, with some living for just a day. Besides insects, short lifespans are also seen in fish, reptiles, and mammals.

Here’s a look at the animals with the shortest lifespans:

Animal	Average lifespan in the wild	Animal type
Mayflies	One day	Aquatic insect
Luna Moths	7 days	Insect
Gastrotrichs	10 days	Aquatic invertebrate
Ant Drones	11 days	Insect
Fruit Flies	12 days	Insect
Mosquitos	14 days	Insect
Indian Meal Moths	15 days	Insect
Tsetse Flies	18 days	Insect
Worker Bees	40–140 days	Insect
Booklice	42 days	Insect
Seven-figure pygmy gobies	56 days	Fish
Labord’s Chameleons	75 days	Reptile
House Mice	105 days	Mammal

Mayflies live the ultimate temporary lives, lasting just one day on average. However, they’re quick at reproduction and can lay up to 10,000 eggs in a day. Interestingly, the presence of mayfly larvae in a water body typically indicates that the water is clean and oxygen-rich.

Common insects like fruit flies and mosquitoes tend to live for around two weeks. But even in their short lives, mosquitoes often wreak havoc, ranking as the deadliest animals for humans.

Meanwhile, worker bees’ (non-reproductive female bees) lifespans vary seasonally. They live 40 days in the summer on average, but this can stretch up to 140 days in the winter.

The seven-figure pygmy goby holds the record for the shortest lifespan of any vertebrate, living just 56 days on coral reefs. Next on the list, Labord’s chameleons of Madagascar survive only 75 days, spending more time developing inside their eggs than they do as adults.

Among mammals, house mice typically survive just over three months in the wild due to predation but can live for over two years in captivity.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

To learn more about other unique animal species, many of which are on the verge of extinction, check out The World’s Most Endangered Animals on the Voronoi app.

The post Charted: Which Animals Have the Shortest Lifespans? appeared first on Visual Capitalist.

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